Clean technology: Integration of CO2 capture system into dual purpose desalination plants. Alternative arrangements

NÉSTOR RODRÍGUEZ; SERGIO MUSSATI; NICOLÁS SCENNA

King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center, Dead Sea, Jordan

Conferencia; Euromed 2008: Desalination Cooperation among Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the MENA Region; 2008

 The main purpose of the paper is to investigate the integration of two MSF desaltors into a combined cycle power plant which includes the CO2 capture process in order to minimize the greenhouse gases emissions. Post combustion process is considered for the CO2 capture.  There are many alternatives to integrate the CO2 capture systems into power plants which could improve the energy efficiency of the whole process. A specific procedure was introduced in order to integrate the mentioned processes using commercial software for modelling and solution strategy. HYSYS simulator was used to simulate and optimize the process. A specific subroutine for heat integration and heat exchange network design was implemented. This paper is an extension of a first published in [1] [Mussati et al (2008)] where only one configuration for the whole system was investigated. Contrary to this paper, three alternative configurations for the integrated system were here investigated. The alternatives are as follows: 1) MSF desaltor is coupled into to the gas cooler, 2) MSF system is coupled to the steam condenser and 3) Two MSF systems are coupled into the gas cooler and steam turbine condenser, respectively. The total water demand to be satisfied is 1000 [m3/h]. By comparing the proposed configurations, it is possible to conclude that the better option for the integrated process is the alternative 3), since heat integration is most effective and investments and operating costs are considerably reduced.